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OKP Exclusive: Talib Kweli x J. Period - "The Traveller"

You may recall that a week or 2 back we dropped this J. Period masterpiece of a mixtape called #RAGEISBACK (seriously, its only March but I’m ready to call this one mixtape of the year). You may recall it specifically because the first two leaks were exclusives of legendary proportions; Black Thought getting literary over the beat from Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind,” followed closely by Common revisiting his classic “Used To Love H.E.R.” trope over a flip of the Portishead “Sour Times” sample. Now to complete the Okayplayer G.O.A.T. trifecta, we get Talib Kweli planting his MC feet firmly on his home Brooklyn turf, polishing up his grimey credentials like he was a brand new player trying to shoulder his way into the dice game and grab the kitty. The haunting loop of gypsy jazz that is the beat creates the perfect soundscape for Kweli’s flow; you can practically see the ghosts of the generations of hustlers past that who have swaggered amongst BK’s brownstones and elevated trains. Take your mind on a trip with “The Traveller” below–and keep a dead weather eye on this very space for future loosies from Kid Daytona and more. Oh, don’t forget to cop the book that inspired the whole thing, Adam Mansbach’s “Great American Graffiti Novel” Rage Is Back (>>>purchase via iBookstore).